


An Unforgiving World

by Tekdato



Category: For Honor (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-01-27 15:42:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21394624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tekdato/pseuds/Tekdato
Summary: This story describes the life of a Nobushi warrior and is meant to give the shallow background of the For Honor video game a soul. Although the story will mostly stick to the little lore we have, the goal is to bring my own ideas of this world to life.
Kudos: 5





	1. Facing Death

In the heat of battle, the art of fighting will only get you so far. The real skill is to stand your ground without fear, to be able to kill without hesitating at all. The most experienced and strongest warriors can fall to much weaker foes in the blink of an eye. One mistake, one second of not paying close attention, one time having one more enemy at once than you can handle, is enough. Those were the words of my old Sensei Akiyama and I should learn the hard way how right she was. While the Samurai armies were defending the castles and cities from foreign attackers, there had to be someone doing the dirty work in the wilderness. The Samurai were outnumbered in a scale of one to ten, there was no man to spare on the battlefield. These circumstances led to the the appearance of the Nobushi. As a Nobushi you would most likely end up without proper armor, the only protection for your head being a wooden mask if you were lucky. This just made it even more important to protect yourself and your comrades from incoming attacks. I loved my Naginata, I lost count on how many times it's reach and versatility already saved my life. It was the only thing between the enemies and the village I swore to protect. The Vikings had always been aggressive. They attacked us again and again, for no reason other than bloodlust and greed. I despised them, yet the men and women I killed would never stop haunting me in my dreams. Every single viking wanted to believe they were fearless of death- and some actually were. In most cases however, fear would always conquer them when they actually faced their end. Doubt, that their „Great Hall“ in afterlife even existed could be seen in their eyes. I can still hear their screams.

„Hold the bridge!“ Me and three other warriors were the only barrier blocking the stone bridge that lead accross the river to the village. Of course we had tried to block the way with barrels, stones and anything that was available, but that didn't stop the viking horde from crossing too long. Our commander decided that we could not win and left us behind to give the villagers and the rest of the militia enough time to escape. I wasn't angry at her, it was the right choice. Yet my heart was still filled with fear when I saw the vikings climbing over our improvised barricade. It had rained a lot the last days, their armor was soaked and the vikings' steel was poorly made- part of our advantages that would allow us to keep them at bay for a while. This night however, was clear and dry, the moons and stars combined with the torches we lightened up at the bridge bathed the scenery in mild light. The river was wild and dangerous and the waters devoured every viking who slipped and fell off the bridge while climbing up the barricade. Due to the bridge only offering enough room for three people in a row, we were able to decimate the vikings rather effectively. I almost felt victorious for a split second. Then a huge bull of a man appeared on top of the barricade. He wore a metal helmet and a huge dane axe, but no armor. The vikings called these monsters Raiders. They were the ones who when they told you they didn't fear death, you knew they meant it. And although that was one of their strenghts, it also turned into their biggest weakness rather quickly. I would love to say that I stood fearless against this enemy and took advantage of his lack of armor when he started charging at us, but the truth is that I didn't move not because I was so brave, but because my legs stopped working because of how scared I was. When that giant monster charged at us, I was not the protector I had sworn to be, I was just a frightened girl. I would later realize that I hadn't been the only one whose body gave up, everyone in our group had the same problem. Except one. I didn't know her name, only that she had always been better at, well, everything than me. And in this moment she proved it again. One last time. She took a step forward and stabbed the Raider right in the chest and ran him through. A brief moment of victory, then an arrow hit her in the chest. The warrior slowly took another small step forward, fell on her knees and then on her face. In that moment, the dull sound of her body hitting the ground was the only thing filling the air. Then the silence was replaced by the battlecry of the vikings and they started rushing towards us again. I felt how my arms were trembling in fear. I was used to fight small numbers with a lot of backup behind me, but this was a lot different. I threw a strike against a viking near me who easily blocked it with his shield. Then something hit my stomach and made me lose my breath. I panicked, stumbled, something pushed me off the bridge. So I fell. And fell. As my back hit the water I felt a burning pain rushing through me. I gasped for breath, but my lungs were filled with water instead of air. My right hand still clinged onto my weapon as if it would protect me. It didn't. I felt how the current brutally ripped the wooden mask off of my face, then everything went black.

„This is the Naginata. A combination of spear and Katana, probably the best battlefield weapon you will ever get your hands on out here.“ the old woman said. „I will teach you how to use it, but that won't teach you how to fight. Keep that in mind when the battles start. You are not special, not unbeatable no matter how much you practiced. Now let's learn how to properly take care of this beautiful weapon, shall we?“

I woke up with my face and chest on the dirt, the lower part of my body was still resting in the water, gently being moved back and forth by the now calm current of the river. I threw up instantly, coughed out as much water as I possibly could. My lungs hurt with every breath as if someone had put a blade into it. All the pain I felt before instantly came back to me. My head felt dizzy and when I put a hand onto my forehead to check for a wound, I wasn't surprised to find a long cut, probably caused by one of the rocks in the river. I slowly dragged myself out of the water. Every small movement made my body cry out in pain but I knew I couldn't just lay here until I bled out, so I clenched my teeth and moved on. It felt like hours until I was finally completely out of the river. Still coughing, I turned on my back and looked up at the sky. There was not a single cloud to be seen and the sun was just about to rise. Suddenly, a bird started singing somewhere close, a light breeze touched my tortured skin. A sound that could have been a laugh escaped my lips, followed by a lot of coughing. Ironic, what a beautiful day.


	2. On The Run

After I had taken a short break from the exhaustion that overwhelmed me, I forced myself to open my eyes and get up. My arms and legs felt numb and the weight of my soaked clothes didnt make it easier, but I eventually got up on my feet. My eyes wandered accross my body, trying to apprehend even the last bit of damage it had suffered. Taking care of one's wounds as soon as possible was incredibly important. Even a small cut could infect itself, cause fever and kill you with a bit of bad luck. My chest and shoulders were fine besides a few bruises, but my stomach was in a rather bad shape. The cloth there was completely shred to pieces and a large bruise alongside a long but not very deep cut were visible. My pants had been cut open by something over my right thigh but the leg itself only got a few scratches. No broken bones, luckily. Of course there still was the wound on my head, but I was rather confident of being able to fix this mess and in a few days I'd be in a decent shape again.

Now I had the time to look around. The river had washed me into the forest in front of the village, I wasn't sure where exactly I was but I could either follow the river against the current to return to the village or walk into the opposite direction to get to the fortress the villagers wanted to seek protection in. The second option felt a lot smarter to me. Besides that I didn't have a weapon anymore, the Naginata must have been washed ashore somewhere else or not at all, there was most likely nothing left for me in the village. The vikings never left a settlement without raiding and burning down every last building. Luckily I found a bit of marigold, I believed that my mother once told me this plant would help with open wounds. I just prayed that I remembered correctly, smashed some of them with a stone and put it on pieces of clothing i ripped off of my arms. Any competent healer would have reprimanded me for doing this all so poorly, but I didn't know what else to do and sure as hell didn't know how to do it better. Suddenly my stomach complained about something different than pain: hunger. Again I was lucky to find some berry bushes, but a handful of berries would only satisfy my needs for a few hours at best. I had to get moving. If luck should keep staying at my side I could arrive at the fort before starving to death. Not the best chances, but probably my best shot. I walked alongside the river for a few minutes until I encountered a new problem. The river ended up in a waterfall, several meters high. The same counted for the riverbank and the environment around it that ended up in a cliff. Since I wasn't confident enough to climb down there in my current condition, I decided to walk along the cliff to find a better spot to get down. Although I still felt dizzy, my body began to warm up a bit now which made walking a lot easier. For the current circumstances, I was in a relatively good mood. I didn't think about what happened to the others, I knew that these thoughts would only stand in my way. The fact that I had never seen their faces probably helped. All I remembered was the sound of their voices. But enough of that, I should definitely start walking a bit faster before the sun would start burning down onto me. Once I'd get down the cliff I would be able to walk under the trees again but righ now I was about to enter a very open field as it seemed. The thought of limping across an open area like this didn't really amaze me.

The fact that the grass here was so rich it reached my hips didn't help much, walking would get more difficult from now on. Maybe an hour later I felt how my stamina was reaching it's limits. The sun had now reached the zenith and turned my lonely journey even more unpleasant. I spotted a big cherry tree a bit farther from the cliff and decided to seek the protection of it's shadow and rest for a while. Maybe I'd find something edible with a bit of luck. Upon reaching the tree I was already breathing heavily and wished a had drank some of the river's water earlier, but I promised myself I'd get to that once I found a spot where I could climb down the cliff safely. I sat down in front of the tree, leaned against it and calmed my breath. It was so silent, not even a wisp of wind made the leaves of the tree whisper their secrets. Just for a moment I closed my eyes and listened only to my heartbeat.

Then I heard it. Voices. A group of people, at least three, maybe more. They were laughing and shouting, it was impossible not to hear who they were. They didn't sound like the strict, precise and maybe a bit arrogant Samurai. Neither did they speak the direct but gentle language of the Knights, as we called them. I'm sure they had a better, more eloquent name for their people, but „Knights“ described them fairly well. I knew the voices I heard were vikings, and they got louder very quickly. I jumped up, ignoring the pain I paid for rapid movement, and searched for a possibility to climb up the tree. If I got up there fast enough, I would be able to hide behind the leaves until the group had passed. But the next branch was way too high for me to reach, there was no way to climb up there. I took a peek around the tree and spotted the vikings. Three. In my current condition I could have maybe defeated one of them, with a weapon at least. But unarmed against three opponents was impossible to win. They got closer to the tree with every second, probably searching for a place to rest just as I did. I panicked and pressed my back against the tree: I had to think of something, some way to get out of here without being spotted. „Alright.“ I whispered to myself. „Alright.“ Maybe I could get closer to the cliff again, lay down flat on my stomach, hope the grass would be enough to make me invisible, at least from a distance. That was the best plan I could come up with. Run and hope. So I ran, but there was no time for hope, only fear as I heard screams behind me. They had seen me, stealth wasn't exactly my strenght apparently. Outrunning vikings is hard, especially if you are wounded and they are not. But I had a good edge from the beginning and I feared for my life so my body forgot about the cuts and bruises. I didn't know where I was supposed to run to, just that I definitely had to run as fast as I could. Panting, I made my way through the tall grass. I never took a look behind me, but the shouts were getting louder and louder so I knew they were faster than me. Suddenly my legs freezed instinctively which made me struggle for my balance for a second. The cliff was directly in front of me now. I abruptly turned around, flicks of my black hair fell into my face.

The sound of a bowstring snapping back reached my ears and almost at the same time, awfully sharp pain rushed from my right shoulder into my head. My left hand immediately grabbed the shaft of the arrow, as if it would stop the pain. For a second I felt everything at once. My cuts and bruises from the river, the metal and wood in my shoulder, the tears and sweat running down my face and even the fabric on my skin, a wind, that made my hair dance in the air for this short moment. I heard my lungs inhaling sharply, then everything turned black. I fell again, but this time there wouldn't be any water to soften my fall.


	3. The Valykrie

When I woke up, all I saw was black nothingness. I panicked and tried to move, but I couldn't get up. Something retained me, forced me to stay lying on my back. When I tried to move my arms and legs more, I felt the ropes that were tying me to the ground. Full of adrenaline I tried to rip off the ropes through pure force and even though my muscles roared in pain I kept trying and trying until I was panting and covered in sweat. I eventually gave up once my attempts on escaping proved fruitless and painful. For a while I just lied there and my thoughts drifted off. Nowhere specific, I was simply thinking about... Nothing, actually.

My breath slowly calmed and my heart started racing a bit less than before. Now that my senses slowly came back to me, I realized a lot more about my surroundings as well as my body. Yes, everything hurt, but the worst was the awful tingling around my wounds, that feeling of wanting to scratch myself but not being able to. It was probably better for my health that I was tied up, given that scratching open your wounds isn't exactly very smart.

I noticed that I wasn't lying on hard ground. In fact I was lying rather comfortably, not counting the ropes. A bed of straw, perhaps. A blanket covered my whole body up to my chin. It was quite warm and I could hear a fire crackling not far from me. Other than that and the sound of leaves in the wind it was completely silent.

My eyesight was slowly coming back to me and I could finally have a look at my surroundings now. I moved my head to the side, which immediately caused my head to hurt like hell, my jaw felt stiff and a bitter taste filled my mouth. Instinctively I touched every single tooth with my tongue. They were all there still, luckily. I was quite proud of my teeth, they were perfect and I had always taken good care of them so losing some would have been a shame. But I had much more important matters to focus on for now.

I looked around what seemed like a rather improvised room to me. Wooden carpet, ceiling and walls. The campfire wasn't far away from me, but I was glad that a ring of stones around it prevented the whole room to catch on fire. The space between my bed and the fire was precisely not only far enough to prevent any sparks from hitting the straw, but also still close enough to profit from the warmth the fire sent out towards me. The room was completely empty aside from a small iron kettle near the fire. I turned my head to the left but only faced the wall. I could, however, spot something that could be a window right over my head, but the weak glow of the fire didn't reach far enough to say for sure.

I was being held captive, that was the only thing I was sure of. Probably not by vikings though, they would have killed me off by now. Did the ones chasing me just leave me there, thinking I was dead, did they capture me after all, or did someone save me just to capture me? Many questions, no answers.

Exhaustion overwhelmed me and I fell to sleep again.

Sounds woke me up. Sounds that, in other circumstances, would have never felt as much of a threat to me as they did now. Footsteps. I opened my eyes and turned my head to the right. The iron kettle was boiling over the fire, but I didn't see anyone. Just as I had turned my head, the footsteps stopped. For a short moment I felt as if time stood still, then the sound of the footsteps reached my ears again and they were getting louder with every single step. A very tall, sturdily built woman walked into my field of vision. A coat made of a dark hide covered her upper body and shoulders, her pants seemed to be made out of a similar material like mine. Her arms were completely exposed, one look was all I needed to be able to tell she could break my arms with a single hand. Which was probably the exact effect she aimed for. The woman was wearing a plain steel helmet, covering her whole face and head. Her dark green eyes were the only thing I could hope to see any reactions in, but I was too afraid to meet her intense stare for longer than a brief moment, so I looked at her feet. It seemed the smartest thing to do. Making a Valkyrie angry was the last thing I wanted. The warrior crouched down slowly. I could feel her appraising glance on me as she slowly reached out behind her back. I knew what would happen before it did, vikings often carried their knives on their backs, on hip height. Nevertheless I flinched when I saw the blade in her hand. She noticed and tilted her head. I was sure she was grinning under her helmet.

She put the knife against my throat and I showed no resistance.

„Calm down.“ I thought to myself. „If she wanted you dead, you'd already be damn dead by now. Calm down.“

Even though I knew what I thought made sense, I still feared for my life. I didn't know her motivations, didn't know how she liked to kill. Then she started to untie the ropes on my arms with her other hand. Her knife still firmly pushing against my throat, she lifted me up into a sitting position. My legs were still tied to the bed, but sitting felt nice. Suddenly the Valkyrie brutally grabbed my hair and pulled my face closer to hers. The sudden pain sent tears into my eyes and a little cry escaped my lips. She was scary. Scarier than the Raider on the bridge, scarier than the vikings chasing me earlier.

Then she spoke. The old language used to be _the_ form of communication in the old days before the endless wars between the factions. Now only few spoke it fluently, but I still remembered some of the basics I was taught. And so was she.

„Don't move. Don't dare.“ she demanded in a voice that scared me even more than her looks and the knife. I slowly nodded. The Valkyrie looked at me a few more seconds, then she let go and turned around. My sight was blurry because of the tears, but I was still able to follow the warrior with my eyes. She walked over to a barrel on the other side of the room that I didn't see before. Next to the barrel was a table with various jugs made of clay. She grabbed one of them and dipped it into the barrel. Then she walked back to me. She still had the knife in her hand. When she crouched down again I reached out my hands to grab the jug and immediately regretted it. I cried out in pain, as did my body. I inhaled sharply several times and looked down on my arms. They were covered in clean bandages, just as my whole upper body. I felt a throbbing pain where the arrow had hit me and my torso felt like it had been crushed completely. The tears from earlier came back tenfold. The Valkyrie grabbed my chin and forced it up so that I was facing her. There was no way to escape her eyes now.

„Don't. Move.“ she said very firmly. She moved the jug towards my chapped lips and demanded me to drink. I didn't need a demand for that since once the water reached my lips I realized how thirsty I was. I finished the whole jug in just a few seconds and asecond one after that. Then the other woman grabbed a wooden bowl and spoon and went to the kettle to fill the bowl up. I was convinced that I never smelled something as delicious in my life ever before. Although to be fair, my roaring hunger was probably a big factor in this. But when the Valkyrie crouched down in front of me again to offer me something of the food, I didn't immediately eat it.

The Valkyrie tilted her head again and brought the spoon closer to my mouth.

„No poison.“ her rough voice promised. „Eat or starve.“

I wasn't truly convinced, but she had a point, so I ate it anyways. It was warm and delicious and for a second I forgot about the horrible situation I was in.

A Valkyrie taking care of a Nobushi in need. It sounded too good to be true.

The following days went exactly the same. The Valkyrie gave me food and water two times a day, tied me up again and left me alone with my thoughts. Sometimes we had meat for dinner, most of the time we had to be content with roots and fruits. The woman switched my bandages for new ones every day in a very experienced manner. Much more professionally than my previous attempts to treat my wounds on my own. She never took off her helmet, but refrained from threatening me with a knife after a few days. I was no threat to her and she knew it. There was no way I could ever challenge her strength, not even in a healthy condition. Sometimes she would even leave my arms untied while she left the room for a short amount of time.

There were moments where I almost thought there was a spark of trust between us, but those moments vanished faster than my hopes to ever being able to escape.

I didn't even think about trying to run away when she left the room once again even though my hands were still untied. I waited patiently for her to come back.

And waited.

She took a lot more time than ever before.

Suddenly I heard voices outside. Angry, arguing. I also heard the voice of the Valkyrie. Confident, strong and proud. It was the first time I noticed any other vikings around my prison. Fear struck me when I realized that these other vikings may be the ones who were chasing me, who clearly wanted me dead. Or even worse, a group of vikings who wanted to torture me to death. It was not uncommon practice to get some insight into the enemy's motivations and tactics.

I looked down on my hands, then my eyes slowly traveled towards the coarsened ropes keeping my legs down. I was surprised how easily I got them off. I stood up slowly. My legs felt incredibly numb, I hadn't walked properly for a long time, but my wounds had been getting better and better the past days so I slowly made my way towards the door without greater inconveniences. Something was going on behind that door, and I wanted to know what.


End file.
